For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9:30 a.m. to receive an overview of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) amendments and review Bill 25-24, Contracts and Procurement - Prohibitions Against Human Trafficking – Enforcement.
The members of the GO Committee include Chair and Council President Kate Stewart and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz.
The Economic Development (ECON) Committee will meet on at 9:30 a.m. to receive briefings about the work and accomplishments to-date in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 for the Business Center and Small Business Support Services NDA, UM3-Institute for Health Computing (IHC) and the BioHub.
The members of the ECON Committee include Chair Natali Fani-González and Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe, Evan Glass and Laurie-Anne Sayles.
The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet at 1 p.m. to receive an update from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) representatives about the Anti-Racist Audit and restorative justice.
The members of the EC Committee include Chair and Council Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.
The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to continue to review Executive Regulation 17-23, Building Energy Performance Standards.
The members of the TE Committee include Chair Evan Glass, Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe and Council President Kate Stewart.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
FY25-30 CIP Amendments Overview
Review: The GO Committee will review the County Executive’s more than $5.85 billion recommended FY25-30 Amended CIP and receive an overview of the amended CIP from Office of Management and Budget and Department of Finance representatives. The amended CIP is $85.2 million, or 1.4 percent, lower than the Approved FY25-30 CIP. This year represents an off year for the CIP, which follows the previous year’s full review and approval of the FY25 Capital Budget and FY25-30 CIP. In odd-numbered years, including 2025, the Council approves the Capital Budget but approves only amendments to the approved CIP.
The largest change in the recommended FY25-30 Amended CIP is a $113.7 million reduction to the MCPS CIP, which is due to technical amendments over the six-year period that reflect actual spending in projects. In addition, the recommended amended CIP includes full funding for the Revenue Authority and Montgomery College and near full funding for Montgomery Parks.
Bill 25-24, Contracts and Procurement - Prohibitions Against Human Trafficking - Enforcement
Review: The GO Committee will review Bill 25-24, Contracts and Procurement - Prohibition Against Human Trafficking – Enforcement, which would require procurement bids and proposals to include certifications of compliance with human trafficking laws. In addition, Bill 25-24 would prohibit County contractors and subcontractors from violating human trafficking laws and require County contractors and subcontractors to make certain disclosures regarding human trafficking charges, claims or violations. The bill would authorize debarment and other remedies for noncompliance with the law. The purpose of Bill 25-24 is to prohibit the County from working with contractors or subcontractors found to have violated state or federal human trafficking laws and establish meaningful penalties for active contractors found in violation of these laws.
The lead sponsor of Bill 25-24 is Councilmember Dawn Luedtke. Councilmember Friedson, Council President Stewart and Councilmembers Katz, Glass, Jawando, Gabe Albornoz and Sayles are cosponsors of Bill 25-24.
Business Center and Small Business Support Services NDA FY25 Budget Follow-up
Briefing: The ECON Committee will receive a briefing about the work and accomplishments of the Business Center. For FY25, the County Executive recommended more than $3.2 million for the Business Center. The Business Center team is part of the Office of the County Executive and coordinates the delivery of County services and projects related to business development. The Business Center also manages certain funding programs, incubator facilities and partnerships with other organizations providing resources to businesses in the County. This briefing is part of a series of meetings to discuss the progress of departments and agencies under the committee’s jurisdiction over the past fiscal year.
UM3-Institute for Health Computing (IHC) FY25 Budget Follow-up
Briefing: The ECON Committee will receive a briefing about the work and accomplishments of the UM3 Institute for Health Computing (UM3-IHC). The institute is exploring how artificial intelligence, machine learning and clinical analytics can facilitate knowledge discovery for human health and wellbeing. It is being developed through a partnership with the County, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland Medical System Corporation.
FY25 was the second year of a five-year commitment of $5 million annually to support operating costs at UM3-IHC. This is in addition to the $15 million the County provided in seed funding in Nov. 2022. In FY24, the Council approved $3.7 million of the $5 million the County had committed, while delaying $1.3 million in estimated lease payments until the Institute found a suitable space. In Dec. 2023, the Institute signed a lease for a 27,000 square foot space in North Bethesda. The total expected cost to the County by FY29, when the Institute is expected to be self-supporting, is $40 million.
BioHub Maryland FY25 Budget Follow-up
Briefing: The ECON Committee will receive a briefing about the work and accomplishments of BioHub Maryland, which is a Maryland Tech Council initiative to accelerate the state’s life sciences industry. BioHub is a biopharma manufacturing training center which would provide hands-on competency-based training focused on core biopharma manufacturing operations and curriculum.
The BioHub Maryland NDA was established as part of the FY25 budget following Council approval. BioHub Maryland receives the bulk of its funding towards operating costs from the Maryland Tech Council. Montgomery County’s contribution will provide funds specifically for rent and administrative and custodial costs for operating the facility. The County committed to providing a total of more than $2.9 million over a five-year period.
Montgomery County Public Schools Anti-Racist Audit Implementation Plan Update
Review: The EC Committee will review the implementation of the Antiracist Audit at MCPS. The Antiracist Audit was conducted from Dec. 2020 through July 2022, by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. (MAEC) and provided a systemwide antiracist audit of MCPS’s practices, policies and systems. The audit includes recommendations around school culture, workforce diversity, work conditions, pre-K–12 curriculum, community relations and engagement and equity of access. The purpose of this meeting is to examine the use of these recommendations in the ongoing work to develop a new MCPS strategic plan.
The EC Committee previously received a presentation about the Antiracist Audit at a meeting held on Nov. 30, 2023. The intent of the audit was to identify ways to increase access, opportunities and equitable outcomes for every student’s academic and social-emotional wellbeing. In addition, MAEC was charged with evaluating MCPS’s efforts toward achieving racial equity across the district.
Implementation of Restorative Justice in Montgomery County Public Schools
Review: The EC Committee will review the implementation of restorative justice in MCPS. MCPS identifies restorative justice as a mindset and philosophy toward school climate and relationship building which involves proactively and intentionally developing relationships and building community and restoring, repairing or healing the school community when harm has occurred. The focus is on education, learning from mistakes, identifying and working on the root of the behavior, making deep-level change, repairing relationships and restoring students and staff to the environment.
At this meeting, the committee will discuss data on how staff, students and families are experiencing restorative justice practices in MCPS. In addition, the committee will evaluative data on the effectiveness and consistency of restorative justice practices in MCPS. The committee previously discussed the implementation of restorative justice at MCPS at a meeting held on Nov. 30, 2023, which was focused on direct school-level implementation and how staff, students and families are experiencing restorative justice practices.
Executive Regulation 17-23, Building Energy Performance Standards
Review: The TE Committee will continue to review Executive Regulation 17-23, Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS). The regulation would set numerical site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) performance standards for building groups, define how renewable energy will be incorporated into performance metrics and define the elements required in Building Performance Improvement Plans (BPIPs).
The committee held six discussions on Executive Regulation 17-23 over the past year, including meetings held on Jan. 24, 2024, Feb. 26, March 18, July 15, Sept. 16 and Sept. 23. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) developed modifications to the regulation based on the feedback received during these meetings and additional benchmarking information collected. At this meeting, the committee will review the amended regulation.
The regulation is required by Bill 16-21, which expanded the number of buildings covered by existing benchmarking requirements, created a Building Performance Improvement Board and required energy performance standards to be established by regulation for covered buildings with a gross floor area of 25,000 gross square feet or greater.
The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website.
Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.
Release ID: 25-022